The eyes of evil that are staring down on all three of our heroes and the small frightened group of sparks lock tight with the assuring promise of a feast of fear for its appetition. The sight of this horrifically demonic beast that spans to the height and width of at least two or three Dream Machines combined strikes terror in their hearts in viewing the towering abomination this creature is. This creature in particular is a beast both Dreamfinder and Figment know all too well; one that they had both faced and defeated once before. Up until now, there has never been sign of recurrence of this creature's return...or worse yet, another source.

"My Gosh! Another nightmare!." Dreamfinder yells.

"Just like the Doubtfinder back at the academy!" said Figment. "Only scarier!"

"Good observation." the nightmare says with an evil grin. "You seem to know about the kind of being I am. I take it that one of you has been infected with my 'fearful epidemic' before. But hold, what is this I see about you? You look like someone or some people I had once seen before. ...Yes...yes! I remember you! I had captured you once before as I had laid waste to this pitiful realm of a mansion. But...how are you here? How could you have escaped my wrath...Elias Dean Finder?"

"Because I am not who you think I am." bravely said Dreamfinder. "I am not my great-grandnephew Elias, but his granduncle. I am Dreamfinder! My purple flying friend here is Figment and this young woman is—"

"Ixnay on my e-namay, Dreamfinder." said Rachel through her teeth in fear with her eyes open wide. "He doesn't need to know who I am, too."

"You? Yes...I remember you!" the nightmare says, as it watches Rachel make a large gulp. The monster pushes Dreamfinder and Figment aside and carefully runs a claw, tracing and framing Rachel's face as she lands her back completely against the nearest wall with the sparks trembling at her side. "I remember how small you once were, how naïve you were, how weak and helpless you were, how deliciously fresh you were with fear. It seems you are still ripe for the picking."

"You leave her alone!" Figment cries. He furiously flaps his wings flying straight to the monster like a bullet only to be whacked and swatted away like bug, landing right against Dreamfinder's torso and knocking them both to the ground.

"And look!" the nightmare continues with its eyes fixed at the sparks. "You have more little sparks of imagination for me to feed on. How courteous of you bring me some. Which one should I consume first?"

"Mama...Mama!" cried the poor little sparks in their trembling.

"NO!" Rachel screams. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE THEM FROM ME AGAIN!"

"Is that so? I seem to recall the last time we had met when I had warned you to stay out of my way and never dream again...or I would claim you into my grasp of darkness as I had done for your friend."

"You can't take away her dreams!" Dreamfinder shouts. "Rachel! Your fantasies are what make you whole! They helped you get this far! You mustn't let the nightmares overwhelm you again!" But saying this has only gotten Dreamfinder to be whacked away like Figment has, knocking his down to his rump.

"What's it going to be, child? Are you going to surrender yourself and your sparks to me? Or am I going to take you by force?"

Rachel didn't have time to think. She has become far too terrified beyond capacity for rational thought. She kicks against the monster's teeth real hard, giving her and the sparks enough room to flee from being cornered, grab Dreamfinder and Figment to their feet, and scatter into one of the halls and escape.

"So this is how you want to play it, eh?" said the monster with devilish glee, ready to gallop after them. "Very well then. Ready or not, here I come!"

*******************************************************************

          The group of two humans, the one dragon and tiny clan of sparks race through the empty halls in a frenzy. Their hearts are beating and pulsing in a terrifyingly terrific speed. The sound of their feet stomping tremendously as they swiftly sprint throughout the abandoned mansion of a laboratory are giving vigorous echoes as they go on, making themselves more than likely to get caught at any second.

          With the beast chasing behind them unseen, there is no telling when, where or how it will spring out of the blue and catch its prey. The beast pants heavily with an eager taste for both fallen dreams and blood. Its large size along with the four legs it has formed has given it the advantage to top our heroes' speed, but doesn't seem to helping it much as it tries to fit through the apparent small corridors it attempts to reach. In all of this, it has turned into a cat-and-mouse chase.

          Rachel spots Elias' office just ahead. They enter another large, circular, foyer-like room with the office just on the other side. Without hesitation, everyone rushes through the room to get inside without the monster seeing them. Once inside, Dreamfinder slams the door behind them and locks it shut. There is a peeking hole on the door to look through for any visitors, or in this case any monsters or other intruders barging in, to which the Dreamfinder manages to open just a small crack and peek out. Meanwhile, everyone else is out of breath. To have all of the fear and terror inside exerting out of them while running is a tiresome task. Their sweat falls off of their faces and their panting tries to breath in and out as quietly as possible. Rachel, being the first to catch her breath, she grabs Figment instantly by the neck and Dreamfinder by his collar. She slams them both against the wall away from the door growling and seething with rage inside, though under the circumstances they are in, she tries to keep in as much balance as possible.

"You ignored the note on the steel door, didn't you?" Rachel growls.

"Uh...note?" Figment stutters in a little lie, scratching the back of his head. "What note? You mean like a musical note?"

"I told him not to open it!" Dreamfinder admits.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Rachel explodes. "What part of 'Must Never Open' don't you understand?! That door has contained the beast inside it since Uncle Eli was taken. I wrote that note and stuck it to the door and closed it during my escape so no one would open it again. If that door is open, then Nebulus won't stop until he captures you two, captures the sparks, captures me, and then let history repeat itself!"

"Then we just have to prevent that from happening again." said Dreamfinder, as he frees himself from Rachel's grip. "Perhaps if we can get Nebulus back into that door, we can close it shut and he'll be sealed in again."

"It's not that simple. In all of the fifteen years he's spent behind that door, and who knows how long he has been in there beforehand, he's bound to have become too smart to be outwitted. We don't even have a prayer to save us."

"Maybe not," Figment intervenes, "but we do have our imaginations! If anything can get us out of this mess like the last many moments we've faced, imagination can."

"Figment is right, Rachel." said Dreamfinder in support. "We can't just stay in here and hide like mice while that thing is rampaging around the laboratory. When he's done here and when he's done devouring these little sparks, which he won't allow if we have anything to say about it, he'll find his way out of the pavilion and go after everyone else. Every dreamer in the world is at stake!"

"Figure that out on your own, genius?" said Rachel with sarcasm.

"Alright, fine!" Dreamfinder says with little patience in his tone. "Since you know so much about what's going on, what say you come up with an idea on how to defeat it. Go on! Put your ideas together! You can do it! We're all ears!"

          Seeing the stern look on Dreamfinder's face and the scared looks on both Figment and the sparks', there is not much Rachel can say about what to do, granted that this isn't the time. Rachel looks down tentatively where in her hands is Uncle Eli's Mesmonic Converter. It's a wonder why the nightmare monster didn't just swipe this thing out of her hands when it cornered her and the sparks to the walls. It probably meant to, but just didn't have the chance after Rachel kicked it away from her. She looks back at the sparks as they all quiver in fear hiding in the drawers, under the desk table and whatever hiding place there is left murmuring and crying "Mama...Mama...Mama..." Her head tilts back and forth from the sparks to the Mesmonic Converter and back. And then, in realizing what Dreamfinder has advised Rachel to do, her mind clicks.

" '...Put your ideas together...'" Rachel mutters in her realization. "Dreamfinder, you said you created Figment with the Mesmonic Converter a long time ago, right?"

"Yes?" Dreamfinder drawly replies. "And I'm happy that I have."

"And you said that it requires me to use my imagination and that dream power alone can charge this thing and bring my fantasies to life, right? Mind into matter?"

"With enough concentration and a clear mind, yes. Why?"

"I have an idea, but I need room to make it work. Come on!"

          Rachel races back out of Eli's office with the Mesmonic Converter in hand. The sparks, never wanting to go or be anywhere without their mama, they all flee from their hiding spots after Rachel with only Dreamfinder and Figment, left in their confusion, following right behind them. They enter back into the large clearing with Rachel standing in the exact center of it. The sparks circle around her with their curiosity overwhelming them over their fear. What could Mama be up to, they thought. Most likely something crazy above all else, but anything else...who knows? With Rachel's legs stretched apart in a shoulder position and raising the Mesmonic Converter up high, her plan is now being put into effect.

"This is for the good of all my little sparks." said Rachel. "It's time I put all of my ideas together."

"What is she talking about?" whispered Figment to Dreamfinder without Rachel noticing.

"I think I know." said Dreamfinder with realization in his eyes and excited smile. "And if I'm right, it's brilliant!"

"The sparks...and the Mesmonic Converter. You don't mean she's...?"

"We'll have to seem, my friend, and hope that it will work in time before the Doubt gets here."

"Mama?" the sparks murmurs.

"Okay..." Rachel whispers to herself, taking a very deep breath. "If this doesn't work, I'm gonna be real upset." She slips the Mesmonic Converter on her head, turns the dials at the correct frequency; she starts to think to where the sparks on the coils at the top of the helmet are flickering, and starts to recite.

Watch carefully. Listen closely. See what you can see...

"Uh...Rachel?" Figment stutters. "You might want to do this faster. I can hear and feel the Nebulus getting closer!"

          In an instant, the little sparks start to glow brightly in connection to Rachel's words and the sparks from the Mesmonic converter helmet. The sparks are beginning to morph together. In the process of all of this, a gust of dust, leaves and whatever bit of rubbish that has fallen and rotten over the years are blowing into a spiral along with Dreamfinder's top hat flying off from his head. The sparks are being infused with the electric shock the helmet is making. As each of those sparks go by, so do all of the visions of Rachel's memories with Uncle Eli, the happiest moments of her childhood before they had been forgotten, along with whatever bittersweet, yet joyful tears escape from her eyes. All from the time she had first met Uncle Eli, from playing their games and conjuring everything they think of coming to life, to the long nights of sleeping a blissful dreamland that Eli had lulled her to in her sleep, all of which have been brought together and put into one place, altering them into one lonely being. She finishes her incantation to complete the process.

"Hurry, Rachel!" Dreamfinder shouts. "It's almost here!"

Through the power of words and the magic in my mind, I make these sparks to be whatever I want to be!

          With the sparks and the electric shock converting together at the end of Rachel's enchantment are at the end of their mutation, they begin to form a specific shape. A pair of wings, strong and wide as an eagle's, opens wide and high. A bean-curving body with four legs, but two of each in both frontal and hind two different kinds; the front resembling a bird's talon claws, while the back more like paws from some other kind of species. A lion's tails flourishes in the air from behind with a bird's face and tough, stiffened beak at the front. Its eyes glow brightly like the shining light of the heavens. And lastly, its ears sprout out from it head from both sides of its head pointing skyward. With the finishing touches in place of the shock and the glowing light, the small creature inside it cries out a screeching roar much similar to eagle's as well. Its screeching echoes throughout the rest of the Imagination Pavilion, enough to even reach outside of the building and throughout the Epcot park! The transformation is complete!

          The light that has illuminated the room has begun to cease. The being is now revealed as a creature far beyond everyone's expectations, much except for Rachel's for the sparks have turned into exactly what she had desired. The creature is small, about three and a half feet from beak to tail; sort of like Figment's height. Its fur is a light tan with its feathers behind it mostly white at the tips. Its beak and talons are a golden yellow like the Sun, radiating from the light it has made. And lastly, as it opens its eyes, its irises reveal its true color of emerald green, gleaming brighter and clearer than even the most valuable and most transparent of diamonds and gems. The creature is slowly lowering down to the ground in its rebirth. It yawns and stretches and shakes itself like a dog, rubs its eyes, then picks with its beak into its fur like it is looking for fleas. Much more than it had ever been as a small group of little sparks the little creature, or most likely a Gryphon, is alive!

"It worked!" Figment exclaims. "Right?"

"Oh my..." Dreamfinder mutters to his delighted shock.

"Algar?" Rachel weakly calls.

"Hmm?" the newly imagined figment of a gryphon, whose name is revealed as Algar, perks up his ears and tilts his head towards Rachel's direction. At first, the little gryphon cannot tell who is wearing that helmet.

          Rachel lifts the Mesmonic Converter off of her head, revealing her face to Algar. Despite the loud thumps and stomps of Nebulus about to enter to large cluttered room, the gryphon looks straight into Rachel's eyes, locked without moving them anywhere else. Rachel, with her eyes teary with great joy of her creations presence and smiling weakly but definitely showing an influential reaction, stumbles towards Algar in small steps just like a child with her arms spreading out. The gryphon does the same. In his struggle to walk or even fly for the first time in its life, he tries to move closer and closer to his new creator, trying to get a closer look at her.

"It's me, Rachel." Rachel whispers aloud, crying with joy in her heart for once in her life. "You know, your mama. I made you this way to save you and you're here. You're finally here!"

          The Dreamfinder and Figment, completely and immensely astonished at this sight with their jaws dropped and eyes widened, both stand there together motionless. A new discovery in making imagination come to life has been sought and as much there is to describe what and how it happened, they can't.

          Algar's eyes grow bigger at the sound of Rachel's words. At first, they sound like flushing water blurring his hearing, but as he trudges closer and violently shakes his head a bit, it starts to come out more clearly. Once Rachel and Algar get close enough to each other with Rachel kneeling down to her little gryphon, she slowly lets out her hand to pet him. He sees her hand trembling not out of fear, but out of great anticipation. The gryphon slowly moves towards Rachel's hand, sniffing it with his sense of smell for the first time. That is a very familiar scent. In recognizing whose scent it belongs to, Algar looks up to Rachel with his eyes expanded in his amazement. Then the gryphon smiles at her. The biggest and first smile he has ever made. It knows who Rachel is now and I his excitement, the gryphon barks happily like a little puppy and jumps into his creator's arms, kissing her cheek with large licks and making her laugh in the process.

"Bark bark!" Algar exclaims.

"ALGAR!" Rachel cries joyously.

"Algar?" Dreamfinder and Figment blurts out in their confusion.

"Figment, Dreamfinder, this is Algar." said Rachel in a gracious tone as she walks to her friends with Algar in her arms. "My imaginary friend!"

"Wowie-wow-wow! That's incredible!" cheered Figment to his amazement. "Hello, Algar! Welcome to the world!"

"A gryphon!" Dreamfinder proclaims with excitement. "How delightful!"

"How delightful, indeed!"

          In their shock, they see Nebulus slowly trekking into room chuckling at the "pitiful sight," in its own way of seeing it. He crawls towards our four heroes heavily like a hungry animal with his grinning mouth growing as big as Figment's known size. Maybe even bigger! Seeing Nebulus for the first time in his rebirth, Algar screeches with fear and tries to hide behind Rachel's back, whimpering. It seems to have the same feeling of fear as he did when he was that small group of tiny sparks. Dreamfinder stands himself at the very front of his friends in protection, as would any brave man would. Figment hides behind Dreamfinder's shoulders, leaving both Rachel and Algar right behind them away from the danger, which doesn't seem to help much. But this is only amusing Nebulus even more as he gets closer to them.

"And cute all the same." Nebulus adds. "Do you really think that changing those sparks into this pitiful little bird beast will save him from me? Why, it only raises my appetite to eat its essence even more!